Tayshaneta oconnorae, Ledford, Joel, Paquin, Pierre, Cokendolpher, James, Campbell, Josh & Griswold, Charles, 2012

Ledford, Joel, Paquin, Pierre, Cokendolpher, James, Campbell, Josh & Griswold, Charles, 2012, Systematics, conservation and morphology of the spider genus Tayshaneta (Araneae, Leptonetidae) in Central Texas Caves, ZooKeys 167, pp. 1-102 : 31-32

publication ID

https://dx.doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.167.1833

persistent identifier

https://treatment.plazi.org/id/E0E89835-CBD1-CF6F-D212-3FB8802CC16A

treatment provided by

ZooKeys by Pensoft

scientific name

Tayshaneta oconnorae
status

sp. n.

Tayshaneta oconnorae   ZBK sp. n. Figs 24 A–C45A–F 58

Type data.

Male holotype from Fern Cave, Hays County, Texas, 26-May-1989, A. Grubbs, J. Reddell, M. Reyes, 29.97N, 97.99W, (AMNH).

Etymology.

This species is named in honor of Kathleen O’ Connor, fellow caver and biologist who helped collect many exciting Tayshaneta specimens.

Notes.

A single adult male collected from Cathy’s Cave, Hays County, Texas shares the genitalic morphology of Tayshaneta oconnori but was damaged during examination and only the right palp remains. The specimen was highly troglobitic and is tentatively assigned to Tayshaneta oconnori until additional specimens can be collected.

Other material examined.

USA: Texas: Hays County: Cathy’s Cave, 15-March-2005, P. Paquin, 29.90N, 98.08W, 1 ♂, (CASC).

Diagnosis.

Tayshaneta oconnori may be separated from all Tayshaneta species, except Tayshaneta anopica and Tayshaneta sandersi , by having the following combination of characters: pigmentation and eyes entirely absent (Figs 24 A–C); legs extremely long and thin, femur I 1.8 –1.9× carapace length; embolus with a distinctive apical bifurcation (E, Fig. 45D). Separated from Tayshaneta anopica and Tayshaneta sandersi by having the ventral sclerite straight and short, not extending past the base of the embolus (VS, Fig. 45E) and by the unique shape of the embolus (E, Fig. 45D).

Description.

Male (holotype). Body length 1.1, carapace 0.52 long, 0.40 wide, length 1.31 × width. Carapace depigmented, sparsely setose; eyes absent (Figs 24 A–C). Legs elongate and thin, femur I 1.93 × carapace length, covered in fine setae and with few scattered spines. Palpal tarsus entire, tapering apically; retrolateral tibial spine recurved, sculptured throughout, length 0.40 × tarsus length. Bulb suboval, length 1.66 × width; embolus oval, bifurcate apically (E, Fig. 45D), length 1.2 × width. Abdomen depigmented, without pattern, 0.58 long, 0.45 wide, covered in fine setae.

Distribution.

Known only from two caves in Hays County, Texas (Fig. 58).

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Arthropoda

Class

Arachnida

Order

Araneae

Family

Leptonetidae

Genus

Tayshaneta